


One Wish For Happiness

by meloshi



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fights, Flirting, Fluff, High School, Inspired by Miraculous Ladybug, M/M, Original Kwamis, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Saving the World, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-12 10:25:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18444638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meloshi/pseuds/meloshi
Summary: There's a legend that you can grant yourself a wish with the power that comes from wielding enough miraculous at the same time.And it is for that reason that Swallowsong cannot be allowed to take that power for himself meaning Ursa, Lionheart, Midnight Blue, and Cottontail need to protect their miraculous no matter what.But is everything really as it seems?





	1. Still got it

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to preface this with a few things:
> 
> 1\. If anyone has any ideas on other tags to add to this, please let me know because I'm sure others fit but I cannot for the life of me think of them - so any help would be appreciated (this is a pass for tag suggestions all the way up until the end) ALSO If you have any suggestions for characters to get "akumatised" (aerosioned as it's called in this fic) please send them - I'll try my best to put them in!
> 
> 2\. Age and Familywise! More will be added to notes in the future when they become important but for now this is what I've got:  
> Roxas, Ventus, Sora, Vanitas, Namine, Kairi, Xion, and Zexion are all 16.  
> Demyx, Riku, Hayner, Pence, and Olette are all 17.  
> Axel and Isa are 18.  
> Roxas and Ventus are twins - their parents are Aqua and Terra  
> Sora and Vanitas are twins - their parents are Cloud and Leon  
> Zexion's parents are Even and Lauriam and they live with Lauriam's little sister, Strelitzia (13)  
> Kairi lives with her grandma  
> Namine's older sister is Elrena (29)
> 
> 3\. Knowing Miraculous Ladybug isn't necessary for understanding this! It may help a little bit but it really doesn't matter - it's just a convenient way to tell this story! I hope it doesn't put any off reading this!
> 
> Please leave kudos if you enjoyed and if you have the time a comment would really be appreciated!  
> I hope you like it and until next chapter!

"Take a good long look, because I'm the one and only firestarter around here!" Lionheart yelled out, pointing a chakram straight at the winged monstrosity before him.

"Puh-lease. I could beat you with my hands behind my back, nothing is going to stop me - especially not some pretend superhero like you!" Emberess snarled in response, readying herself to pounce at any given second. She jumped from one building to the next, gaining on Lionheart as he backed away and, just as she was about to strike a claw at his back, a flash of black and white swung her away with a bamboo pole.

"Looks like the big bad lion's just a little kitten waiting to be saved." The boy laughed, positioning himself beside Lionheart.

"Nope, I just like having you save me is all." Lionheart replied, a hand running through his hair. "Thanks, Ursa, I knew I could count on you."

"Yeah, yeah, uhm, no problem." Ursa smiled gently in response, turning his head away and standing up straight again ready to fight.

"But now you're here, I can trust you to capture the little birdy, right?" Ursa nodded in affirmation, holding out his hand and making his stick disappear, as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Go for it."

"Agrabar Sands!" Lionheart shouted chucking his chakram to the sky, letting it burst into golden specks and rain down upon him. His green eyes flickered yellow and he grinned at Emberess who seemed to slow down. No. She didn't slow down. He had gotten faster.

And with his new found speed he chased after her, quickly catching up to her and grabbing one of her arms, pulling her down and pinning her to the ground face down.

With a blink, Lionheart's eyes went back to that familiar green and Ursa was running up to them. He took Lionheart's place pinning her down and held his hands against her wings.

"Time to clip your wings and remove your mask - Twilight Masquerade!” With a flash, the wings upon Emberess’ back melted away in rays of lights, her costume disappearing and the damage wrecked upon to city disappeared, returning everything to its original state.

Ursa stood up, with the help of Lionheart’s hand pulling him up and the two of them grinned at each other.

“Still got it.” Ursa laughed as he high-fived Lionheart.

“Still got it.” Lionheart agreed. They turned their attention to the person left behind by Emberess, a young girl with short golden hair, a white t-shirt, and beige cargo pants, clutching on to her head and breathing deeply. Ursa rushed to her side and kneeled beside her, a hand on her shoulder and the other going to wipe away the single tear that was running down her face.

“I… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I just… He’s…” She inhaled shakily, and bit down on her lip. Ursa shushed her and just helped her to her feet.

“Hey, no need to explain yourself to us. You’re good. Just remember that sadness is only temporary. We all have our down days. Just don’t wish it could be different, everything happens for a reason.” He turned around and faced Lionheart. “Gotta bounce before the transformation runs out. Stay safe out there?”

“No way I wouldn’t, partner.” Lionheart laughed, waving goodbye as Ursa ran away down a nearby alleyway. And as much as he wanted to hang around and help out the girl he too needed to think of his own transformation.

“You good to go home alone?”

“Yeah. Thank you, mister Lionheart.” She thanked him as she ran away down the street, off home. Lionheart clicked his tongue and looked up to the sky.

Another person saved; another chemistry lesson missed. Things were shaping up to be pretty good if he did say so himself.

Off he went to hide behind the oak tree at school, and turn up to class late as if he’d been skiving. Little did they know, he was saving their asses from a tantrum throwing child (well, not quite, but either way, who or what didn’t really matter).

“Fiamma, hunt finished.” He said, letting the transformation drop. “Good work today, pal, I owe ya one.” There was a rustling as he pulled a bag of apple slices out of his trouser pocket and handed one to the kwami floating expectantly by his side.

“Well, I do try my best, Axel. You make a compelling argument when I’m forced into action by you after all.” Fiamma scoffed between bites of his apple.

“Hey, keep up the talk like that and I’m gonna lock these apples away and take off the damn necklace. What sorta lion eats apples anyway, you’re meant to be a carnivore.” Axel replied, taking out a hair band and tying his hair back into the ponytail he usually sported at school.

“Kwami, not lion. And you have a lesson to get to.” Fiamma sneered flying to enter Axel’s hoodie pocket.

“God, don’t remind me…” He sighed, straightening his clothes and cracking his neck. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

As he strode away to his class, on the other side of the building, behind the paper bank on the playground, another boy was late for class.

“Teddy, I don’t know if I’ve ever said it before but thank you so much, for having a mask that covers my cheeks on the costume.”

“I’ve told you - I don’t choose the costume, it just is the way it is, Roxas.” Teddy smiled, chewing on a small piece of gummy candy. “It would be easier if you just didn’t have a crush on Lionheart you know.” He said with a sly smirk. Roxas’ cheeks went bright red at the mention of it.

“Sh-shut up you lazy little panda! I can’t just choose these things… Just because you’ve never been in love before…” The blonde groaned swatting at the air, but Teddy flew into his bag before he could get hit by Roxas’ playful swipes.

He was late as it was for English, he didn’t need silly thoughts of love occupying his mind like crazy and distracting him. It was bad enough he was late too!

Saving the world be damned, he needed to save his grades first!


	2. Just teenager talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the school chapters are a game i like to call: how many characters can i fit in at once?  
> the answer so far? idk, i didnt count but it was M a n y  
> Also jfc I write Vanitas like such a brat aksjdgl he's the embodiment of an extra edgy OwO or >:3c face and I hate it but I love him bc how could you n o t????
> 
> I hope you enjoy and like the chapter!!!  
> Please leave kudos/ a comment if you have the time!  
> Hope to see you next time too!

“And why, pray tell, were you late today, Roxas?” Mr Fair asked, tapping a pen on the desk as he stared at the young blonde. Roxas shuffled in his place and made some vague hand gestures and noises.

“Well, you know, just, woke up late is all?” He scratched the back of his head, not even buying his own answer.

“Look, buddy, I want to believe you but I’ve kept this a secret from your parents for so long and- and if you think I’ll keep being lenient because I’m friends with your parents…!” Roxas winced at the mention of his father and sighed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. “Well, you’d be right. Look, Roxas, I like you, okay? I don’t wanna see an angry Aqua get on your ass for being late, and you are a good student in your written work, so… Next time I want a better excuse, okay?” He smiled mischievously. “Now off you run.” And with the dismissal, Roxas thanked him and got out of the class room as quickly as he could, not looking where he was going and bumping right into Axel.

“Hey there spitfire, someone’s in a rush.” Axel rustled Roxas’ hair and laughed. Roxas made a face and took to Axel’s side, the two of the walking down the corridor to the canteen for lunch.

“God, I’ve had the worst day. Too much exercise for a morning…” The blonde sighed, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. “And can you believe! Ven took for-fucking-ever in the shower this morning! I swear the guy knows I needed it too.” He grumbled not noticing the incoming slap to his back as his face was tilted upwards to talk to Axel.

“Someone spreading rumours about me, huh? I am wounded little brother!” Ventus feigned being shot in the heart with an arrow, his feet shuffling awkwardly for a second and he tried to match the pace of his brother. Roxas swatted at his shoulder and scowled.

“I’m only a few minutes younger, stop acting like I’m a baby.”

“Oof, Roxy’s got some bite this morning – really how long did you take in the shower, Ven?” Axel asked and Ventus hummed for a bit before sticking up three fingers. “3 minutes? I… I gotta agree with your brother here, Roxy, that’s a harsh rumour you’re spreading there.”

“Thirty! It was thirty minutes!” Roxas huffed out, eyebrows all furrowed and lips all pouty, Axel couldn’t help by smile at how cute it was seeing him so angry.

“A guy’s gotta take his time to look this good.” Ventus shrugged, much to Roxas’ disgust which he verbalised quite blatantly for them to hear. “Oh yeah, right, like you’re as pretty as me. Remind me, which of us has a boyfriend?”

“I’m waiting for the right person! And hey, your boyfriend isn’t exactly the best looker around, he’s a rat in Sora’s clothing.” Roxas rebutted, going red in the face at the mention of boyfriends. He could have one if he wanted. He did have someone in mind after all, it just wasn’t going to be the easiest for the two of them to get together though... Axel couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Roxas’ comment, much to Ventus’ dismay.

“I’m telling him you said that you know.”

“Go ahead, I didn’t say anything wrong.”

The two brothers quipped back and forth all the way to the canteen, right up to when they sat down at their usual table of friends.

Axel and Roxas beside Isa and Xion respectively and Ventus taking his seat between Vanitas and Olette. To her right was Hayner, Pence, Naminé, and then back round to Isa, with Kairi, Sora, Zexion, and Demyx round the other way from where Xion sat.

It was a strange amalgamation of three separate tables all pulled together and chairs fitted around to seat all fourteen of them, but it worked and it suited them just fine. A rowdy little rabble of teenagers all loud as teenagers are wont to do. Roxas almost preferred it to the usually set up of a giant ring whenever they sat outside in the spring and summer, if it weren’t for the masses of other kids all around.

Conversation flowed as it usually did, falling into a familiar pace of jokes and pleasantries and storytelling of dreams or incident that had recently happened.

“Oh, oh, did you hear! Little Nala got aerosioned this morning! Who’d’ve thunked that Emberess was such a little girl!” Demyx perked up, grabbing everyone’s attention with the talk that had been in everyone’s mouths at one point or another.

“Nala? The little, tiny one always hanging out with Simba?” Kairi asked, intrigued by it all.

“Yeah, that one! Apparently, Simba’s uncle sent him off to boarding school and she was so upset about it all – God I know I’d hate it if Zexion or one of you lot got taken away…” Demyx held Zexion’s hand tighter as he said his words and the others all nodded in agreement.

“Was she hurt? Who saved her?” Hayner asked, him and Pence and Olette all leaning towards Demyx as he spoke of the incident.

“Just Lionheart and Ursa, no sight of Midnight Blue or Cottontail according to the news.”

“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Axel spoke up, point his fork at Demyx as he swallowed the remaining food in his mouth. “Maybe Midnight Blue and Cottontail don’t take their jobs as superheroes seriously if they couldn’t be bothered to show up to save lil’ Nala.”

“Or maybe they care about their education?” Isa shot back elbowing Axel for making such a comment so carelessly.

“Yeah, it’s not like you could do it – balancing school and being a superhero.” Ventus added

“Maybe they couldn’t get out of their lessons that they should have been in, Axel who missed chemistry?” Zexion said, making Axel bark with laughter.

“Ha! I could totally do it! Just need some magic powers first is all. And I’ll have you know I didn’t miss chemistry; I was tactfully avoiding Professor Even is all.”

“Like how Roxas almost tactfully avoided Mr Fair?” Xion chipped in, not missing her chance to get her voice in. Naminé giggled, holding a hand in Xion’s direction to high-five her.

“We all know Roxy-woxy doesn’t need to worry about Mr Fair though, I could have sworn I saw him let you off easy after class. Who knows what promises you’ve made to him to be so kind.” Vanitas narrowed his eyes with a cruel smile as he looked over at Roxas, who practically growled in response.

“Wanna say that again you off brand hot topic Sora knockoff?” Roxas hissed.

“Ooh, scawy Woxy is huwting my feewings...” Vanitas fake pouted, putting on a baby voice to emphasise the mocking nature of his comment. “That’s what you get for calling me names you broken clone.”

“Vanitas!” Ventus whacked him on the shoulder and told him off for being so cruel to his twin. “Just be civil with each other for once.”

“I will when he stops shoving his tongue down your throat. I mean how would he like it if I did the same to Sora?”

“You keep your filthy hands off my little brother.”

“Go Roxy, fight, fight, fight.” Axel chuckled. “You’re so feisty, I like that in a guy.” He winked at his friend and Roxas rolled his eyes, tension gone from his shoulders.

“Yea, I’m spoken for anyways Roxas, no offense! I wouldn’t wanna kiss you, that’s basically cheating.” Sora piped up and made the table laugh.

“Whoa, wait, Sora’s in love with someone?” Kairi asked, turning fully towards Sora and clasping his hands ready to know more. Sora laughed awkwardly.

“You could say that…” His shy and avoidant attitude made the others egg him on to keep on talking but his cheeky grin was warning for his next comment. “Oh? What’s that? Donald and Goofy are calling me? Gosh darn it guys! I guess I’ll have to keep this one to myself! See ya!” He laughed slinging his bag on to his shoulder and saluting them a goodbye before running off to wherever Donald and Goofy were, presumably.

The conversation died down after that, and they rest of the group made idle chatter as they finished their lunches. Most of them went off to do their own thing or hang out with other friends - Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Kairi off to do some homework they’d forgotten (or rather, that the boys had forgotten and the girls had so graciously decided to help them with), Naminé and Xion made their way to the music room to get ready for their next lesson, Demyx and Zexion probably behind the school building to make out knowing them and the same with Ventus and Vanitas much to Roxas’ disgust. Isa had excused himself for some sort of school council meeting, leaving behind Axel and Roxas at the empty table amalgamation the group had left behind.

“Man, you think people would get over those superheroes pretty quickly but there’s still always there, talk of the town as they say.” Axel sighed, slumping down into his seat with closed eyes and peaceful look on his face.

“They are pretty cool though, you gotta admit it.” Roxas said stretching his arms above and behind him and hearing his joints crack and pop as he did so.

“Hmm? I think you’re cooler.”

“Yeah right.” Roxas scoffed, leaning his body over the table with a pensive look on his face as he studied Axel’s features. “Hey, Axel? Can I tell you something?”

“Go for it, Roxy.” He replied not even opening his eyes.

“So… You know how Ventus and Vanitas are together… And Demyx and Zexion are together… And Sora has his, uh, imaginary, maybe not real, possibly actual lover person?” He started unsure of how to word himself, but the talk of love was just so frequent these days and he needed to get this off his chest was all. Axel’s eyes seemed to open very abruptly at the mention of love from Roxas’ lips, no matter how roundabout of a way he was saying it.

“What, you have someone too? Have you been hiding them away from me?” He perked up, sitting straight and hunching over the table like Roxas was.

“No! Well, yes. Just not properly, yet.” He said averting his eyes now that Axel was paying full attention to him. “And I’m only telling you this because… God, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, this could ruin our friendship after all…” He winced unsure of himself.

_Ruin it then._ Axel wanted to say, but held his tongue. “You can tell me anything.” He reassured Roxas, his heart skipping a beat at the possibility of it being… Oh, he couldn’t get his hopes up, he really couldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself.

“I have a crush on…” Roxas took a deep breath readying himself to tell Axel who it was, and Axel did the same anticipation high. “Lionheart.”

There were no words.

Wait, no, there were quite a few that pounced to Axel’s brain and he could swear he could feel Fiamma rolling with laughter in his hoodie pocket too but that didn’t matter because technically, _technically_ , Roxas had just declared his love for him.

… His alter ego.

Same thing in the end really.

“Lionheart? The superhero Lionheart?” He managed to say, that breath he’d held in apparently not ready to come out yet from the shock of it all. Roxas nodded, face almost entirely red with embarrassment at admitting such a thing to his best friend.

“He’s just… Really cool you know?” The blonde squeaked out covering his face so he couldn’t see Axel’s reaction. If he hadn’t then he would have seen Axel with the biggest yet softest smile on his face from sheer joy.

“I think hot would be more appropriate for Lionheart, don’t you?” Axel joked hoping to get a little more out of Roxas. Maybe boost his ego a little bit more. “Hey, Roxy, wouldn’t you say Lionheart’s hot? I mean, spandex? That’s some body-hugging stuff you know~” He continued to tease, even though Roxas was waving his hands in weak little hits at him.

“Okay, yeah! He’s hot! Get off my ass about it!” Roxas finally admitted much to Axel’s enjoyment.

“Oh, you’d rather have Lionheart on your ass, wouldn’t you?”

“Stop being so sleazy, you sound like Demyx’s uncle!” This time he actually hit Axel right on the top of the head perhaps a little harder than he’d intended but they both knew he deserved it and Axel didn’t seem to mind. “God, I knew I shouldn’t have told you!” He whined getting up and rushing to get out of the canteen and away.

“Aww, Roxy, no! It’s okay, I’m messing about, you like whoever you like you know?” Axel caught up to him in no time at all, even after tripping over several chair legs in his attempt to get away from the table – it was a good thing his legs were so long so he could catch up to Roxas with just a few strides.

“Stop making fun of me for it then.” Roxas said, no real anger behind his words but badly concealed playfulness as was typical of their dynamic.

“Hey, if I ever see the guy, I’ll set the two of you up, yeah?” Roxas laughed and shook his head.

“Yeah, like you’re gonna run into him ever.” Axel was about to reply with some witty comeback but the bell went before he could. The two of them went their separate ways, off to their own classes, with their own thoughts.

Axel's thoughts in particular leading him to formulate a rather special little plan of his own.


	3. Does this count as cheating?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know these chapters are coming out fast now but trust me they're gonna slow down again once school starts askljdgl
> 
> anyways  
> Midnight Blue :0 He's one s u a v e dude u know? as idk if it's obvious from the name/writing but his miraculous is that of the Butterfly!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!  
> Please don't forget to leave kudos/a comment if you enjoyed~  
> I'll see you next time! <3

Demyx wasn’t one to remember his dreams after waking up, but if he never fell asleep to begin with then he remembered them as clear as day. And it was precisely his daydreaming that had put him in the situation he now found himself in.

It had been almost a week since Nala had been aerosioned and things were settling down to general peace, so he’d gone off to his part time job without any worries about getting attacked by some crazed civilian possessed by some evil entity, but that was a bad decision.

Thursday nights were usually quiet, so when the bell rang to announce someone had entered the store, well, Demyx should have know things weren’t going to be good.

Before his very eyes, three little winged boys basically transparent in looks if it weren’t for the red, blue, and green accents within each of their forms, entered the shop and when they touched items on the shelves the strangest of things happened. The red one made things blow up into puffs of red smoke, the blue one make things melt into blue liquid, and the green one completely froze things into heavy green versions of what they had been, and Demyx was terrified as he ducked down behind the counter to hide himself just hoping that they hadn’t seen him standing there.

Perfect! The one day he worked he had to be confronted by some villain destroying the shop! He buried his face in his arms and he hugged his legs close and just wished for them to go away.

He could hear the destruction they were bringing to the shop around him and he knew it was stupid but he couldn’t just let them cause havoc and get away with it. Sure, the superheroes would get there soon but soon wasn’t quick enough for him. What if they touched him? What would happen then? There was no way he was taking that chance!

So he jumped up from where he was hiding and made for the stairs, dashing up them two at a time to get away from the possessed people only to hear their footsteps following behind him.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, he knew he shouldn’t have moved, but that just meant he couldn’t stop now either. So he kept bounding up those stairs all the way until he reached the top floor where the staff room was.

In hindsight maybe locking the door behind him was a bit dumb considering the fact these monsters could make things into gas or liquid, but Demyx never prided himself on being the smartest tool in the shed. So when the door did evaporate in a red cloud of smoke, Demyx let out the shrillest scream he had ever screamed in his entire life.

“Hold it right there, you fiends!” A voice shouted, swinging through the open window and coming to stand in front of Demyx.

“M-Midnight Blue!” Demyx stuttered in shock, his eyes widening at the sight of the superhero before him. “Oh, wow, I’m a big fan, I follow all the news on you and the others and-”

“As sweet as that is, now is not the best time, Demyx.” Midnight sighed, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him so the two of them fell out of the window. Now would be the perfect time for Demyx to scream once again (or even babble about how amazing it was that Midnight Blue knew his name!) but he found himself unable to as Midnight ripped out a page of his book (when had he summoned that?) and caught him within it before landing safely on the ground.

“It’s safer for you in here, trust me.” Midnight said to the paper with Demyx’s falling form stuck like an illustration as he tucked the sheet away in his book and closed it on him. He really didn’t like storing humans in his book because it was such a pain getting them to not make a huge fuss about it. They weren’t going to die – Midnight didn’t get why they took it so badly…

He held his book under one arm as he surveyed the building he’d just jumped from. It seemed the aerosioned victims were inside still and they hadn’t gone to follow him from the window, so while he had a secure knowledge of where they were, he contacted the other miraculous holders to get them all to gather.

“Be there soon. Don’t do anything reckless.” Ursa has replied.

“See if you can get a grasp of their powers, we’ll think something up on the way if we can.” Lionheart added. Midnight headed into the building.

The first thing he noticed was how the air was thick and tinted red, it was almost enough to make him choke on it, whatever it was. Getting them out of the building would be useful so the air could dissipate better in an open space from whatever they did… The bright blue streams of water dampened the floor and the shelves and green statues were heavy enough to break those same shelves. Midnight cautiously reached a hand out to touch them, flinching as he came into contact with them.

It was a pleasant surprise to find nothing about them was infectious by touch but it was terrifying to know that those three boy could do such a thing. To be controlled in such a way... Midnight couldn't imagine what kind of wish they must have wanted for Sparrowsong to change them.

“God, did you let one rip or something, Midnight?” Such was the inappropriate announcement of Lionheart entering the building… The disapproving noise that followed must have been Ursa with him.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s the boys who have been aerosioned. I think each of them has the ability to transform things into different states of matter. Red turns to gas, blue turns to liquid, and green to solid. First thing we should aim to do is get the out of the building so our sight isn’t hindered by this red smoke.” Midnight explained pointing out each of the instances of the powers that he could make out from his short analysis. Ursa seemed deep in thought at the situation at hand.

“If they can change the state of things then won’t we be at a great risk? What if we’re subjected to their power and become liquid or a statue or smoke?”

“We just have to grab their wings before that I suppose.” Midnight responded. It wasn’t the most solid plan but there wasn’t much else they could do other than that. “I can’t see how my powers would help in this instance but I caught a civilian within my book and I would much rather let him out now over later.”

“No, I think I have a plan, don’t worry. You take him far away and take care of him and we’ll take care of things around here.” Ursa nodded, having been stuck within Midnight’s book before he knew how uncomfortable it could become if stuck there for long amounts of time. Midnight wished them luck and was about to set off when Ursa grabbed him by the arm suddenly.

“Did you manage to get into contact with Cottontail? She’s not essential but she would be helpful for what I have in mind.”

Cottontail's power would be useful in many ways but she hadn’t shown up for a while – probably sick or unable to transform somewhere safe and unseen was all – so Midnight apologised and told them he hadn’t before leaving Ursa and Lionheart to their plan.

He made sure to get as far away from the inevitable fight as possible before releasing Demyx from the confines of his book. What he didn’t make sure to do was remember that Demyx had been falling and resumed that action right on top of him, knocking him to the ground and getting him pinned beneath the other boy.

“Ouchhh…” Demyx whined, shifting slightly and only then realising he was on top of Midnight Blue. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” He exclaimed, getting on his hands and knees so his weight wasn’t on top of the superhero.

“I don’t find myself being pinned beneath such a pretty boy so often, but I could stand for it to happen more…” Midnight smiled, a hint of red visible beneath his dark blue and black mask. Demyx was sure his own blush was much more visible with nothing to hide it from plain view.

“I, uh, well…” It was a struggle trying to articulate a good response, it wasn’t everyday a superhero seemingly hit on Demyx after all. Then again, he could be taking it the entirely wrong way… “I’m sure you could get any pretty boy atop you whenever you wanted, I mean, you’re famous after all?” Maybe not the best response to make while scrambling to his feet and holding a hand out to help the superhero get up since it was a bit… Well. He didn’t think calling himself pretty would really do much for himself.

Not that he wanted to either! He had a boyfriend for gods sake! He couldn’t be flirting with some other guy, especially not some superhero – if the media saw it and then Zexion saw it through the media then he’d be in a deep hole of shit with no way to get out.

“Maybe I don’t want any pretty boy. Just you.” The words were purred out in such a way that made Demyx go weak in the knees and his hands start fidgeting in order to find a something to distract himself with.

“Look, you’re really handsome and super cool but I’ve gotta say I-” He was finding himself cut off by Midnight Blue a lot more than he had expected from the calm and collected persona the superhero seemed to have when fighting and when on the news. The superhero placed a finger to his lips and shushed him.

“I know. I just wanted you to know you’re pretty.” There was a fleeting kiss pressed to his cheek and an added whisper of, “Stay safe out there for him.” And then Midnight Blue left down the alleyway and it took Demyx a good minute to recover from that kiss.

Things like that just didn’t happen to him, and he would have been absolutely positive that it was all apart of his imagination and his libido running just a little bit wild if it weren’t for the lingering warmth of Midnight Blue’s lips upon his cheeks.

When he returned home that night, he read about how Ursa and Lionheart had managed to defeat Trioment and saved the triplets Huey, Dewie, and Louis from the clutches of Sparrowsong’s control, and while any other day he would be ecstatic to read of the achievements of superheroes he still had another stuck in his mind.

Midnight Blue.

And more importantly, what he was going to tell Zexion about the entire debacle.


	4. He does it out of love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more introduction after this chapter and then the real stuff can start going down B)  
> also Monarch is a theatre kid in a kwami's body and ngl I love her
> 
> as always I hope you enjoy!  
> please leave a comment if you've got the time (and kudos if you haven't already)  
> and i'll see ya next update!!

“Monarch, take my wings.” Midnight said, transforming back to his normal attire behind his house and out of sight.

“Look at you go! Seducing him like that so openly, aren’t you going to get yourself into trouble?” Monarch giggled, fluttering around her owner’s head and trying to gauge his expression from behind his hands.

“This is all your fault… If you weren’t so… so…”

“Super pretty and totally mesmerising?” Monarch batted her eyelashes and posed with her wings outstretched, showing off as she was prone to do.

“Theatrical!” Zexion hissed.

“You were the one saying all that stuff!”

“Only because the transformation links us and you become so overpowering in my mind!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so weak willed then…” She huffed, crossing her tiny arms and turning away from him. Zexion didn’t even grant her a response but merely shook his head and sighed.

She wasn’t… entirely wrong. Often had he wondered whether or not the other three were being as controlled by their kwami’s personalities as he was but, in all honesty, he really was more inclined to do things Monarch’s way. It made for easier communication with the others and people wouldn’t be able to figure out who he was if he was acting like himself. It was a win-win situation all around – just not when it involved him flirting with his own boyfriend whilst in disguise…

Really, Demyx had been asking for it anyway. He was just so… adorable! That’s why he fell in love with him in the first place, so how on earth was he supposed to control himself when he was pinning him down with his lips just centimetres from his own? Zexion was far too embarrassed to ask Demyx to do anything to him himself, so getting pinned beneath him was out of the question in day to day life.

He had let him out of his book in such a stupid manner by accident, it was just a pleasant one was all.

“Look, Monarch, please stop me next time I do something like that. I don’t want him thinking of doing something crazy like running off with Midnight Blue instead of me…” He ran a hand through his bangs and straightened his back getting ready to go inside his house.

“When it no longer entertains me.” Monarch smiled, diving into the pocket of Zexion’s coat. He took it as her way of saying she wouldn’t do a single thing.

When he entered his home from the back door, he did his best to keep it as quiet as possible. Technically he wasn’t meant to be out on account of not telling his dad and it being a school night so he had to be sneaky. Evil didn’t wait for permission from it’s dad to be let out the house and neither would he.

The plan of entering quietly and pretending he’d been there the entire time would have, of course, been so much more believable if his dad hadn’t been standing by the back door making a phone call.

“… I’ll call you back.” Even said, lowing his mobile and ending the call. The father and son stared at each other for a while, Zexion not sure what to say and Even not sure how to say it. “Shut the door, there’s a draft.” And Zexion quickly stepped through the door, turning around to shut it and wincing as his face was no longer facing Even. “You realise your reflection is clear as day in the glass of the door, Zexion?”

“I know I didn’t ask for permission, but I had a good reason to be outside.” But instead of getting a chance to explain himself he was pulled in close and hugged tightly by his father.

“I never thought I’d see the day you’d sneak out the house.” Not exactly the most typical thing for a parent to say but this was Even and this was Zexion, they both knew what he meant by it. Zexion played along as well as he could, still running on that adrenaline from being Midnight Blue and meeting Demyx.

“Okay, okay, I get it, I’m being a rebellious teenager and you’re proud of me, now let me go!” He struggled from his father’s grasp and brushed down his clothes, smiling slightly at how even the smallest things made his dad happy. It was good having a supportive figure that supported even the unconventional things in his life, it meant there was practically nothing that he would do that would ever get him told off.

“Have you eaten? I was going to make an omelette for myself.” Even asked, tying back his hair and cracking his neck.

“Not yet, an omelette sounds nice.” It was a no-brainer – Zexion was starving and food would have to sate that starvation if he couldn’t get what he really wanted. Even said he’d bring it up to Zexion when it was ready and that he should get started on his homework and who was Zexion to argue? He wasn’t going to keep up his rebellious streak and it would hurt him just as much to fail to do his homework as it would his father.

So he went to his room, got Monarch her jam to eat, and got himself started on his homework. It was only physics so it was a matter of applying formulae to various worded problems and that was a breeze for Zexion who managed to finish it so quickly that it was done before Even came upstairs with his food (or maybe it was just a case of Even being slow at cooking).

He had the news feed up on his phone, following along with all the latest on Ursa and Lionheart against Trioment (Zexion really hoped that Sparrowsong wasn’t the one making up such… childish names for all his villains), pleased immensely when he found out they’d won even without Cottontail’s help. Ursa must have had a good plan to get past their ability to change the matter of items.

It hadn’t occurred to him that despite all the time they’d worked together none of them had bothered to try and figure out each other’s civilian forms. At least he hadn’t. Of course he’d thought about it: how they would probably be about the same age as him and they likely went to the same school as him (unless they were rich and went to that fancy school or were home schooled), but never had he really tried to put superheroes to people he knew. That was before he realised just how smart Ursa must have been.

Zexion wasn’t one to brag but he was pretty smart, one of the smartest in his year he could admit, so how Ursa was the one that managed to think of a solution to their fights most of the time was rather intriguing. Ursa as a person himself would be a rather interesting conversation partner to Zexion. It almost made him want to try and figure it out.

Almost.

There was no reason to reveal themselves to each other, especially not when Sparrowsong was still about – it was far too dangerous.

It was just as he was thinking of this that his phone began to ring, pulling him away from his thoughts and away from a bad idea. He didn’t need to look at the caller ID to know who it was; only two people ever called him and one of them was in the house with him.

“Demyx?”

“Heyyy… Zexion. Hi.” Demyx’s voice came through clear from the other side. Zexion had known he’d call, he’d probably be in such disarray after what happened with Midnight Blue, but he had thought it’d be a couple of days or even at school the next day. He didn’t really know what to say to him, after all he hadn’t even meant to say the things he had.

“Hi.” Not the best thing to say when you know the other person is probably struggling on the other side of the phone. It doesn’t really leave an open conversation path to go down, and so the two of them sat in silence for a second in which Zexion could swear he could hear his own heartbeat thump louder than normal. “I, uhm, I just finished my physics homework, what’s going on?” It was a quick fix for the problem he’d created at that point. A quick but clumsy fix.

“Physics? Gross, you’re too smart for me sometimes.” Demyx laughed and Zexion couldn’t help but laugh too. That was one of the things he loved most about Demyx, the fact that he could be light-hearted at any moment. “And I know it’s true but please don’t leave me, I love how smart you are.” He added on at the end quickly.

“It’s not true and even if it were: you’re smart too.”

“You have to say that because you’re my boyfriend, babe.” Zexion leaned back in his chair with a frown on his face when he heard those words. Maybe it was a good idea to flirt with him as Midnight Blue since at least back then he agreed that he was pretty…

“No, it’s because you’re smart and amazing and pretty.”

Another pause.

“… Funny you should say that: you’re not the first person to call me pretty today.” At those words, even Monarch couldn’t help herself from flitting over and enjoying herself too.

“Oh, this should be good!” She giggled, clapping her hands in joy. Despite her enjoyment, Zexion wasn’t ready for this. He didn’t know what to say.

“What? Was someone trying to steal away my boyfriend?” He tried to pass it off as a joke, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth, lying to even Demyx, no matter if he had to or not.

“No! Not steal! He was rather… nice about it all? Told me to keep you safe, which I’ll try despite being, well, me.” There it was again, that self-depreciation that Demyx did so subtly sometimes… “No one to worry about, I’m yours forever.”

It was like Demyx was just asking to be visited by Midnight Blue again when he talked like that.

“And I’m yours.” Zexion sighed with a soft smile. Monarch sighed with a heavy frown, there was no fun to be had if the two lovebirds would be so civil.

“See ya tomorrow, babe, love ya!” And with that Demyx hung up, leaving Zexion with an even worse plan than before the phone call started.

“Love you too…” It wouldn’t be bad if he gave in to some of his less… smart ideas sometimes. Maybe. His eyebrows furrowed and he wondered just how exactly he could approach Demyx as Midnight Blue again and whether or not it would work.

“I know that look, Zexion, what’s your latest plan?” Monarch sat herself on Zexion’s hand and rocked back and forth.

“Do you reckon it would work, Monarch? If I were to use my superhero persona in order to build up Demyx’s self-esteem by continuing to, uh...” He lifted Monarch to eye level and asked her the question.

“You know I’m older than everyone in this town combined and understand you’re a teenager?” She rolled her eyes and made a face at how roundabout Zexion was being over flirting.

“By… being complimentary to-” Monarch stared at him unamused. “Fine! By flirting with him and seducing him and making him feel good about himself! Is this some kind of game to you?”

“You know I like seeing you squirm.” She laughed. “I’m kidding, Zexion, do go on.” With a wave of her hand she permitted Zexion to continue speaking.

“Well, if you and I were to become Midnight Blue once again with the intent of flirting with Demyx then surely it would be my mind in control as I would have decided to do such things, right? But you and I both know that it’s not my personality that allows me to be so open and direct as a superhero but yours. So if my intents are driving me to be so coy and romantic under my disguise then isn’t it to follow that it’s my mind as well that would be in charge over yours. I’m not the most forward when it comes to romantic notions and it would be sure to crash and burn.” His spiel made Monarch yawn with uninterest; she didn’t need to listen to him be so self-depreciating when he was speaking of rectifying that same problem with Demyx.

“Look, you’re under a mask, he’ll never know it’s you, you don’t need my amazing penchant for showbiz in order to woo him how you’ve always wished to be wooed.” Monarch fluttered her wings and did a twirl in the air, grinning from ear to ear. “And you never know if you don’t try.”

She did have a point.

Right now all he was doing was thinking theoretically without having any proof that he would mess it up. A rather stupid thing really and an obvious biproduct of thinking about following through with a stupid idea. That wasn’t going to stop him from doing it though – it could be good for both of them in the end.

He just needed to find the right time to make his plan come to life was all.


	5. Lady luck loves her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cottontail reveal! She's probably my favourite miraculous user out of the four of them aha, and her power is my favourite (if not a touch op, but you know, she deserves it so...)
> 
> Someday I'll get round to drawing the group in their hero costumes because I think I've described Cottontail's the most and I've barely done that aha
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter!!  
> Please leave a comment if you have the time, i love hearing what people have to say/what people think of my fanfics aha  
> see y'all next chapter! <3

“Earth to Naminé? Huffing all that oil paint make you go catatonic or something?”

“Huh? Sorry, I must have zoned out…” Naminé shook her head slightly with a tired smile and apologetic eyes.

“You’re telling me…” Vanitas sighed, rolling his eyes as he held up on poking Naminé with the wooden end of his paintbrush. “I asked you, for the fiftieth bloody time, are you doing anything tomorrow?”

She took a moment to think about it, pulling her braid over one of her shoulders and fiddling with the end of it. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea, after all you and Vent-”

“I don’t mean as a date, you dumb broad.” Most days he could deal with her spaced out kind of behaviour but whenever she got herself into one of those deep moods in which she would inevitably misconstrue things depending on whatever was on her mind at the time it was just a little bit more than unbearable. “Okay, no, that’s a lie. But I don’t mean a date between you and I, I mean a double date in which you bring Xion along and actually tell her it’s a date so you two stop skirting around the subject like the lesbians you are.” The way Vanitas had phrased it made Naminé snort with laughter and she had to rest her hands on the table to stop her from making a mistake on her painting.

“Okay, one, I’m not a lesbian and neither is Xion, and two, I’m not _skirting around the subject_ , I’m waiting to figure out if she likes me in that way or not – something I’m figuring out alone!” She added for good measure; she saw the way Vanitas was frowning and about to open his mouth to make it run the fun story of how he knew Xion liked her for a fact for the one hundredth time that year. “It sounds like fun though. Do you have a time and place you want to meet?”

“Park, 10am, make sure to leave your jacket at home.”

And that’s exactly what Naminé did.

It was a horrible idea on Vanitas’ behalf – not wearing a coat when the temperature had been dropping the past few days left her covered in goosebumps and her teeth clattered as they trembled in the cold trying to keep her warm. Vanitas and Ventus were both wrapped up all snug and warm with more than twice as many layers as Naminé had (granted it was only that she had one and they had three) and Xion was decked out in thermal tights, long sleeves, a hoodie and a coat! All while Naminé stood there paler than a ghost with her paint splattered dress (an aesthetic choice, not a product of her bad painting habits) and sheer tights. She had something going for her though as she had foregone the plait she usually wore, letting her pale blonde locks fall over her shoulders like a blanket to shield them, partly, from the cold.

“I wanted to take a walk along the waterfront but if it’s too cold for you, Naminé, we can just stay here and then walk to the café a different way later?” Ventus had said, tilting his head in her direction as he asked. Naminé shook her head and waved her hands in front of her.

“No, no! It’s fine, I was just a bit silly leaving my coat at home is all, we can walk along the waterfront.” She didn’t want to cause any trouble for Ventus’ plans, and honestly, it was her own fault for trusting Vanitas in the first place. Or so she thought.

“Oh but Nami, you’re simply freezing!” Vanitas gasped in fake worry, Naminé shooting him a harsh glare that soften immediately when she noticed the other two turning to look directly at her, not wanting to get Vanitas in to any trouble either, despite how much he deserved it. “Xion, you’ve got a couple of layers on, why not share?” He made a point of it to gesture to Xion’s multiple layers with his free hand and smile ever so sweetly in that way that almost made you mistake him for Sora.

“Wh-what? I… I couldn’t ask-” Naminé began to stutter, blushing and gesticulating wildly trying to refuse before Xion could even reply to Vanitas.

“Sure!” The other girl agreed taking off her coat and holding it open for Naminé to slide her arms into. Naminé asked again if it was alright just in case, but Xion merely said she couldn’t leave a pretty girl like her all cold if she could do something about it.

“Thank you…” Naminé mumbled pulling the coat closed around her waist and refusing to look Xion in the eyes. She looked over at Vanitas though, surreptitiously, and thanked him too. She could tell he must have planned it – an unexpected wingman apparently.

With Xion’s long coat on, Naminé and the others set off down the waterfront, just walking and talking as friends did. No one had made a comment on what the whole outing was, Naminé tried her best to ignore it as a double date set up and Xion seemed to just think it was them hanging out as friends, but they eventually split into walking two by two, Ventus and Vanitas up front and Naminé and Xion behind.

“How’s the drama project going?” Xion asked, linking her arm with Naminé’s so she wouldn’t get left behind by walking too slow. “We haven’t even gotten started on our performance; would you believe it?”

“It’s fine. The teacher said it was good for a rough plan, so we just need to practice a lot.” Naminé replied, letting her arm go slack as Xion held it and just enjoying the close proximity with her. It was a struggle to get her words out at first, still a little taken aback by the gesture but Xion always had been rather touchy feely even before Naminé had developed a crush on her so she was used to it to some degree.

“Ahhh, I wish I were in your group Naminé, you’re so good at all this drama stuff and you take it seriously.” Xion shook her head and looked off into the distance, out at sea. “Really how do you do it?” She looked back at Naminé catching her looking right at her and their eyes meeting.

“How do I do what?”

“Well, you’re doing art, music, and drama. They’re like, you know, practical heavy subjects. How do you find time for it all and a social life?” Naminé laughed softly and fiddled with the chatelaine around her waist.

“It’s not without difficulty, trust me…” She looked back up at Xion and grabbed the hand that was holding onto her arm without thinking of it. “But it’s what I love doing. So I’ll make the time for it whenever I can.” Xion was slightly flushed in the face, probably from the cold, and her blue eyes sparkled with happiness as Naminé looked at her.

“Me too.” Naminé didn’t really know which part she was agreeing with but the two of them laughed anyway and kept walking, bumping into Ventus and Vanitas who had stopped in front of them.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to- Ven? Vanitas? What have you stopped for?” Naminé asked looking at their frozen figures.

“We need to go.” Ventus spoke suddenly, turning around and grabbing onto Naminé’s sleeve, tugging both her and Xion along with Vanitas’ hand grasped in his other hand.

“What’s- what’s going on?” Xion called out following blindly and grasping onto Naminé’s hand tightly.

“Supervillain, behind us, coming this way.” Ventus said quickly still running and not looking back. Naminé’s eyes widened as he turned her head to look behind them. Sure enough there was someone decisively not entirely themselves behind them.

A woman with dark skin and darker hair glowed with a green hue surrounding her, her eyes white and bright with no sign of her iris, just light, and she was crying. Naminé couldn’t help but stop running and just look at her. The woman looked so sad, her dress flowing around as if she were underwater.

“Nami, hurry up!” Vanitas called out realising she’d stopped and was being left behind. She couldn’t move though; she couldn’t just leave after seeing with her own two eyes what this woman was doing. “Naminé!” Vanitas shouted again, right in her ear, as he’d gone back to try and get her to move.

That was a unfortunate thing to do though, and the woman had gotten closer to them, close enough to reach out and touch them. If it weren’t for how Vanitas pulled on Naminé’s arm and threw her to the ground behind him then she would have faced the same fate as he. The woman’s gloved hand touched Vanitas and when Naminé managed to scramble to her feet and look to where Vanitas had stood, she instead found a black cat with familiar amber brown eyes meowing at her.

Behind her, she could hear Ventus’ voice screeching out Vanitas’ name and Xion yelling at her to move and so she did, running down an alley way to her right as fast as she could.

When she emerged from the other side, she found herself in a street full of various animals running amok amongst fearful humans like herself. Snakes and sheep and cats and mice and birds and pretty much any other animal she could think of at that moment were right before her.

“For goodness sakes…” She cried out loud as she heard movement behind her, not needing to turn around to know it was the villain. She kept of running to try and get somewhere safe, her feet dragging slightly as she found herself unable to find anywhere.

If she had the time to worry about whether or not her feet were on the ground properly or not then she wouldn’t have tripped over and fallen flat on her face as she attempted to escape. She rolled over to at least face the villain who was coming after her when she saw the outline of bird wings appear in front of the supervillain’s face, a silver outline, barely visible.

Sparrowsong was talking to the woman… Why, Naminé didn’t know, but what happened next was just as peculiar as the woman merely turned from her trembling figure and set off in the opposite direction.

Where on earth were the superheroes when she needed them? She got up and ran into an empty park, hiding herself behind the trees and catching her breath quickly.

“What, am I not good enough to turn into an animal too?!” Naminé grumbled, stomping her foot in disbelief.

“Count yourself lucky! Now get to it Naminé, we’ve got a supervillain to catch!” A little rabbit kwami flew out of her bag and swung back and forth on her chatelaine. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a chance to transform like this!” With a sigh, Naminé stroked the kwami on the head.

“I know, I’m sorry I’ve not been able to fight for a while.” She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. “Dusty, hop to it!” She said, letting the kwami transform her for the first time in what seemed like ages.

She smoothed her hands over the stomach of the fur edged dress she now wore and then brought her hands to the bunches that hung from sides of her head. Never had she really gotten over the costume of her miraculous, it was so beautiful she almost wished she could wear it just casually, especially since it was perfect for cold weather as it was basically resistant against the weather.

The first thing she did was check the messages she’d been left by the others, wincing when she realised it had been a lot longer than she’d expected. It wasn’t her fault that she was so busy with her personal life and never found the right time to transform and help the others since she somehow always found herself with other people. She’d managed to miss a total of five fights in the course of three months…

It was slightly worrying that they were getting more frequent – was Sparrowsong getting more desperate for their miraculous? – but she didn’t have time to think of that as she called Lionheart, Ursa, and Midnight Blue, hoping one of them would pick up.

“Cottontail! You’re actually in action again?” Ursa’s voice came through loud and clear, the picture struggling to catch up.

“Ready and waiting, Ursa!” She replied, chipper and excited to be helping out again. “The woman, I don’t know what her name is yet, she’s-”

“Witchhazel.” Midnight Blue informed her, waving hello to the group.

“Witchhazel.” Cottontail nodded. “She can turn people into animals by touching them, I don’t think she’d like the others though. Sparrowsong was speaking to her – I don’t think she’s actually aware of what she’d doing. She was crying.” She explained.

“Are you near her? Where is she at the moment?” Midnight Blue asked and Cottontail sent the two of them her location.

“Any sign of Lionheart today?” She asked, a bit disappointed that the first time she’d come back that the whole group wouldn’t be working together. Neither of the other two had seen him yet so Cottontail just nodded and asked them to meet her as quickly as they could. She wouldn’t admit it out loud but she missed being apart of Lionheart’s light-hearted banter whenever they went to fight.

Midnight Blue arrived first, Ursa following him, and the three were back together. Neither of them asked Cottontail where she had been, the less they knew of each other the better for the time being.

“Cottontail, if you can use your miraculous then we can make this a lot easier.”

“No problem, Ursa. I need a direct line of eye contact though. Midnight Blue, you can cover for me in case someone or something comes my way, right?” The two boys nodded and off they went to fight Witchhazel.

She was still in the area, and when Ursa and Midnight saw her they knew exactly what Cottontail had meant. This woman was not herself even more so than other villains hadn’t been themselves.

They managed to chase her into an alleyway, ready to have Cottontail in front of her and Ursa and Midnight behind.

“Go for it, Cottontail!” Ursa shouted as he turned the corner. Cottontail inhaled and, as soon as her eyes met Witchhazel’s empty ones, she spread her arms to the side and yelled out.

“Oblivion Chains!” Heart shaped, pure white chains sprouted from Cottontail’s back, her eyes a striking blue as the rest of her became as white as the chains that wrapped themselves around Witchhazel’s body and immobilised her. The villain shrieked and struggled but Cottontail stared at her with a blank face and tightened the chains, lifting her high into the air with a clench of her fists and by raising her arms.

“Quick, Ursa, get her wings.” Midnight instructed as he noticed the animals that had been created by Witchhazel respond to the screams and immediately go to attack Cottontail. He took to his friend’s side and began to beat off the animals with his book, whacking it against them as they lunged at Cottontail.

Ursa summoned his bamboo pole and used it to fend off the animals that were after him as he scaled the wall to reach Witchhazel. If there was one thing he hated about Cottontail’s power, it would be the way she wasn’t even fully in control of it. It was always a pain in the ass to try and reach the villain when she would be moving them however, she liked, but he wasn’t going to complain. She was incredibly helpful whenever she used it.

“May you return to your true self - Twilight Masquerade!” He stretched out a hand and as his fingertips brushed against her wings, they disappeared in a flash of light, returning things to how they were, the animals disappearing to their human forms returned to wherever they had turned, and transforming Witchhazel to who she was. Ursa quickly pulled her to his body and covered her eyes with a hand, breaking Cottontail’s chains immediately as she could no longer see her eyes and allowing Cottontail to fall to the ground in a pile if it weren’t for Midnight Blue catching her.

As the chains retracted into her body, Cottontail’s colours slowly flooded back, painting her in her usual colours and she gasped a breath in, blinking her eyes rapidly trying to readjust to herself again.

“Are you alright?” Midnight asked, placing her on her feet from his arms.

“Mhmm… Did we manage to save her?” She asked looking in the direction of Ursa who held a woman, still crying, in his arms. She rushed over to her bringing a hand to her face to wipe away the tears. “It’s alright, ma’am, you’re okay.”

“My goodness… What happened to me?” The woman asked, bringing a hand to her head and trying to remember.

“No, ma’am, it’s best you don’t push yourself to remember.” Cottontail explained, realising who the woman was. It was Tiana, from the café that she was planning to go to that morning. She couldn’t begin to imagine what had happened to her for Sparrowsong to sink his claws into her and change her. “What you did, it wasn’t your fault and no one blames you.”

“I was so… so angry! I wanted to yell at him and I just started crying instead and, gosh, I’m so sorry I’ve caused trouble for y’all, I never meant to get so upset!”

“Never apologise for your emotions.” Cottontail held her hands and stared at her with a serious look on her face. “You are not wrong for feeling things. Sparrowsong taking advantage of exactly that is what is wrong. They’re powerful things, something you can use to your own advantage someday.” The two girls smiled at each other; an understanding made in the silence that followed.

“Thank you, Miss Cottontail. Take care.” Tiana shook her hand and brushed a blonde strand of her fringe back into place with the other.

“You too!” Cottontail waved goodbye to her as she rushed her way back to the café presumably. When she turned back to the two boys, she giggled at their dumbfounded expressions.

“Still got it, huh?”

“Still got it.” The two of them agreed, still looking at her in awe.

“How do you do it? Calm them down all nicely like that?” Ursa sighed, slumping his shoulders in defeat, acknowledging that, even after taking break, Cottontail was far better at dealing with the aftermath than any of the rest of them.

“A Cottontail trademarked secret.” She replied with a finger over her lips. Her chatelaine swayed against her leg and she looked down at it, the hanging chains almost completely gone. “Time to leave though. Count on me to help out again! I missed Lionheart today.” She ran off, waving goodbye to the two boys, back to the waterfront where she hid out of the sight of anybody to detransform.

“Thank you for your work, Dusty.” Naminé smiled, kissing the rabbit kwami on the head and rustling through her bag for a lemon drop, unwrapping it for Dusty to eat.

“It was only right for us to win, after all we have two rabbit feet and we know how lucky just one can be!” Dusty squeaked out in laughter before popping the sour treat in her mouth. She flew back into the bag and enjoyed her treat as Naminé ran her fingers through her hair and patted her cheeks to make them red.

She ran out from where she was hiding and called out her friends’ names, panting for breath as she did so.

“Naminé!” Xion’s voice called back and before Naminé could turn around and see Xion, the other girl pounced on her in a hug. “Thank god you’re okay! We were so worried!” She held on tight to her, burying her face in Naminé’s neck almost in tears.

“I am so sorry I worried you all like that!” She breathed, letting her eyes get wet with tears. When she looked up from Xion’s shoulder she saw Vanitas and Ventus rushing over and she pushed away from Xion, running towards Vanitas and hugging him as tightly as she had Xion. “I’m so sorry, Vanitas, it’s all my fault that you got turned into a cat, I should have moved and you saved me and I…” She burst into tears. In all the adrenaline of transforming she’d forgotten about what Vanitas had done for her. Vanitas simply hugged her back with a grumble.

“Don’t be stupid, it’s my fault… Should have left you alone, shouldn’t I? Where did you even go?” He asked, patting her back. She sniffled and looked up at him and laughed.

“I got away thanks to you.” She laughed, wiping away the rest of the tear in her eyes. “Really, thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, I’m amazing.” Vanitas huffed, turning away from her and cracking his neck. “I guess we can go to the café now then if no one else is going to get turned into an animal?” The four of them laughed and nodded, making their way over to the café.

As Naminé had expected, it was closed (a good call on Ms. Tiana’s behalf, considering how hard she worked herself and all of the things she’d been though that day), meaning the four of them had to change their plans one more time, instead going to Mr Scrooge’s ice-cream and sharing two sundaes between the four of them.

It was easily the luckiest day of Naminé's life, getting to spend it with Xion and fulfil her role as a superhero. Though one of them was better than the other by far.


End file.
